News
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California pilot visiting local family, friends
Joshua Vail Tribune Reporter Chanute native and pilot Dana Pontious is taking advantage of her love for flying. She landed in Chanute on Wednesday to visit family and friends. Pontious moved away from Chanute in 1976 and currently resides in Riverside, Calif. She has been back to Chanute several times over the years, the last time was about two years ago. Pontious got into flying for a couple reasons. As a child she would visit the Martin and ...
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Local candidate in running for Recreation Commission director
Jimmy Potts Tribune Reporter The Chanute Recreation Commission (CRC) inched closer to hiring a director after the CRC and city officials interviewed the final candidates, which include a local resident. During City Manager J.D. Lester’s report to the Chanute City Commission Monday, he confirmed the CRC and city officials interviewed the final four candidates last week. “Dan [McMillan, Chanute Parks Director] and I have been pretty active in t...
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Answer the call of patients by donating at blood drive
Be a hometown hero and donate blood. American Red Cross heroes come in all shapes and sizes. They don’t wear capes or special suits. Their badge of honor is the bandage that shows they gave the “gift of life.” Be a hometown hero and answer the call of patients in need by donating blood. “Donating blood is one of the simplest things you can do to help save a patient’s life,” said Terri Dunaway, CEO of the Red Cross Central Plains Blood Service...
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CRDA talks possible new big business
Jimmy Potts Tribune Reporter Chanute could receive a 70-unit motel and travel center after the Chanute Regional Development Authority (CRDA) agreed to an addendum to rectify previous concerns. The CRDA unanimously approved the signing of the addendum by Executive Director Murray McGee to an option between the CRDA, an unspecified landowner and an unspecified developer that would rectify concerns that centered around signage and the ability of...
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County Health Dept. move, grant funds hit snags
Jimmy Potts Tribune Reporter The Neosho County Health Department suffered a few setbacks with grant funding and its upcoming move. Lease negotiations between Neosho County and Chanute building owner Jim Allen hit a snag along with an effort to preserve childcare-licensing grant funds the county has received for the last 15 years. With its lease set to expire in May, the Health Department ramped up its effort to find a new location in past mon...
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Romance, adventure featured at weekend Safari Film Festival
The Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum in Chanute will present its 11th annual Safari Film Festival, a weekend of romance and adventure, on Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27. Friday’s events will feature an evening showing of the film “The King’s Speech,” which is based on a true story of England’s King George VI. The King and his wife, Elizabeth, when they were known as the Duke and Duchess of York, visited Martin and Osa Johnson a...
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Container gardening has its advantages
Joshua Vail Tribune Reporter Southwind Extension District agent Krista Harding provided information on container gardening at the Chanute Public Library on Tuesday. The meeting room was packed with people interested in the topic. “I feel like in the last few years container gardening has really taken off,” Harding said. Harding said that container gardening brings advantages like smaller space requirements and mobility. Containers can be moved...
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Ogle’s whodunit ‘Mind Readers’ coming to Claremore
A real whodunit is coming to Claremore, Okla. And the audience will get the chance to solve it. Will either Sheriff K.W. Guantey and his soon to deliver wife Barbara or funeral home director Chester Smithson and his much younger wife Bubbles be the lucky couple to win the grand prize as they compete in the new game show “Mind Readers”?¬†The game show where couples use their intuitive powers and see how well they know what their spouses are th...
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New city commissioner makes first meeting notable
Claims threats of violence from city official Erickson also asked that City Manager J.D. Lester remove editorial comments from the signature of Lester’s city e-mails. Erickson said the signatures come off as a veiled insult. The comments Erickson referenced come from Henry Ford, who said most people spend more time and energy going around problems than trying to solve them, and Dale Carnegie, who said any fool can criticize, condemn and compla...
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Southwind Extension District hires youth development agent
Jennifer Murphy is the new K-State Research and Extension 4-H youth development agent for Southwind Extension in Erie. Murphy earned her Bachelor’s degre in family and consumer sciences from Pittsburg State University. While in college, she worked as a children’s aid for two different mental health centers. Within the past year, worked as a 4-H program assistant in Kansas State University’s Wildcat Extension District in Girard. Murphy replaced...
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Status hearing set for Shields
Brian Shields had his first appearance in Neosho County District Court on Tuesday, facing a felony murder charge among others. Linus Thuston, Neosho County attorney, reported Shields appeared by video before magistrate judge Leo Gensweider shortly after arriving at the Neosho County Jail at about 2:30 p.m. Shields appeared on the first degree (felony) murder and aggravated burglary charge as well as separate cases of possession with intent to ...
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CCA excels at arts festival
Alex Clover CCA sophomore On Friday, April 12, the Chanute Christian Academy Junior High and High School traveled to Kansas City, Mo., to participate in the Blue Ridge Fine Arts and Crafts Festival. Two students, junior Amanda Hancock and 8th grader Alicia Boan, performed vocal solos where Hancock received a I rating and Boan received a II rating. Seventh grader Rayanne McKinsey sent in a craft that received a I rating, along with 7th grader...
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Luther to exhibit senior art show at Bethany College
LINDSBORG — Bethany College senior artist Grace Luther from Buffalo will exhibit her senior art show, “Inside Out,” at Mingenback Art Center on campus from April 25 to 30. A reception will be held on Sunday, April 28, from 2 to 4 p.m. with a gallery talk by the artist at 2:30 p.m. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public This exhibition consists of drawings made with primarily soft pastel to create vibrant images. Through ...
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Mother celebrates arrest, daughter’s 37th birthday
Jimmy Potts Tribune Reporter Throughout the weekend, flowers and stuffed animals accumulated at the makeshift memorial of Cristy Thomas-Wiles, who would have celebrated her 37th birthday Saturday. Instead of celebrating her daughter’s birthday, Sandra Smedley Barker spent much of Saturday with Wiles’ son, Zebadiah Campbell, who competed at the Pittsburg State University ratings competition playing solo in a piano recital and playing percussio...
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County audit reveals $27,000 accounting error
Jimmy Potts Tribune Reporter ERIE — Friday morning’s Neosho County Commission meeting included a disappointing audit report. Auditor Rodney Burns of Shlotterbeck & Burns requested that Neosho County immediately hire a full-time payroll clerk after he discovered numerous accounting errors. Burns recommended the county hire a well-trained, full-time payroll clerk and not rely so much on the online payroll accounting system, Paychex, after sever...
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Iola man, 59, diesin fatality accident A fatality accident killing an Iola man occurred at about 3:42 p
Iola man, 59, diesin fatality accident A fatality accident killing an Iola man occurred at about 3:42 p.m. Saturday at K-7 and 590th Avenue, about three miles south of Girard. Richard Sigg, Jr., 59, of Iola was westbound on 590th Avenue, driving a 1963 Studebaker and approaching K-7. Shawn Adam Garbin, 39, of Girard was northbound on K-7 driving a 1999 Dodge Dakota and approaching 590th Avenue. Sigg failed to stop at the sign and his vehicle ...
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KVC awarded State contract, plans to move, expand
Joshua Vail Tribune Reporter KVC Behavioral Health Care has been awarded contracts for Reintegration, Foster Care and Adoption and Family Preservation services by the Kansas Department for Children and Families. These contracts, effective July 1, cover essentially the eastern third of the state by area and include Chanute and southeast Kansas. “Since 1996, Kansas has been one of only a few states that privatize the majority of their child wel...
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Musicians primed for performances Monday and Tuesday at CHS
Chanute High School musicians will be in fine form for their public performances next week after receiving their results from the regional music festival at Pittsburg on Thursday. The two varsity ensembles, men and women, received I ratings from the judges, as well as the Chanute High School Chorale, and eight soloists. With the exception of the Chorale, the I ratings mean the students will perform again for judges next Saturday, at the stat...
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Mel’s Southside Tavern: New and improved
Joshua Vail Tribune Reporter Mel’s Southside Tavern at 9 S. Santa Fe continues to see new renovations and upgrades since reopening in January. Owner Melissa Bartholomew said they will probably be continuing to update various parts of the restaurant and bar over the next six months. Among the things that have changed since Bartholomew and husband, Earl Bartholomew, took over the building in December include removing the old bar and putting i...
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New commissioner to be seated on Monday
Jimmy Potts Tribune Reporter The Chanute City Commission will welcome its newest commissioner, Tim Erickson, and say goodbye to outgoing Mayor Jim Chappell during Monday’s 7 p.m. meeting, which features an agenda item that could affect budgets for the next 10 years. Erickson joins the commission following a first place finish in the April 2 election after receiving 610 votes, which surpassed incumbents Tim Egner (523), Martha McCoy (522) and...
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